Yummy York

 Wednesday 28th August 2024.                   Yummy   York

A planned visit to the city of York was on the cards for the Lads today, as per usual they would all meet up at Leeds railway station. But getting there this morning was proving somewhat of a problem for Derek, Glenn and Dave travelling from Wakefield, also John had a similar situation. Disruption to railway signaling systems for all trains heading via Leeds were being seriously affected, so it was a delayed start to their journey to York. Brian and Malcom would be the other group members travelling on the rearranged 11:16 train leaving Leeds, Colin and Mark have prior arrangements so will be missing from this trip.

It was almost midday when the lads arrived at platform 11 at York, with a so-called plan in their hands it was decided to have a lunch time meal first, so a brisk walk in search of Wheldrakes cafe now ensued only to be disappointed as we were told it was closed today, next option was a cafe close to the Magnificent Minster here in the city, which at this moment in time was rather crowded with visitors from all corners of the globe etc, along with the many locals enjoying what the city as to offer. 

Fortunately the lads found themselves seated at a table in Bennett’s corner cafe after about just 5 minutes of waiting , brilliant. What followed was us all enjoying our choices of breakfast/ lunch time meals, yum yum yummy. We spent just short of an hour in this delightful cafe , the staff had been very helpful and friendly to say the least.

 From here it was now down towards the river and the start of our intended walk along the riverside path towards Clifton Bridge a distance of just over a mile or so. It was feeling quite humid now as we walked along enjoying the riverside views etc, having lost a considerable amount of time earlier this morning due to the signaling problem at Leeds our intended visit to the Holgate Windmill had to be abandoned, so as we reached Clifton Bridge we now decided to cross over to the opposite bank of the river and now head back towards the city and the railway station, resting at various points along our way.

Eventually we reached the station at about 2:40pm. our return train to Leeds scheduled to depart at 15:08 so it was back to platform 11 and await it’s arrival, plenty of other passengers were also waiting for this train but the lads managed to get seats close by each other and reflect upon today’s adventure etc. This train arriving back at Leeds 15:40 so for John, Dave, Derek and Glenn it was a hurried exit in order to catch their homeward bound trains, for Malcom and Brian it was less of a hurry.

Looking back on today’s adventure the lads actually made the best of a delayed start , enjoying what they managed to achieve 

Cheers Everyone 

Tynemouth Trekkers

 Wednesday 21st August 2024.                Tynemouth Trekkers 

As the title suggests, the outing for the Lads today was an adventure to the North East region of Tynemouth and discover what this particular location as to offer. It would be a group of seven that took up this challenge so to speak!. First the lads, those being Colin, Brian, Mark, John, Glenn, Derek and Dave would board a train at Leeds station heading for the city of Newcastle their departure time being a few minutes after 9:00am. Derek was actually on the train as it had called at Wakefield on its way. With seats being allocated at various points in carriage C the lads found themselves unable to sit close to one another, didn’t cause too much concern as we are a noisy bunch anyway!

Before not too long the train pulled in to Newcastle station and from here it was down to the Metro and purchase our tickets to enable us to travel out to the coast and the Tynemouth region etc. What a superb system this provides the citizens of Newcastle to travel about,( shame on you Leeds) With our tickets to hand we were soon riding the rails passing the various stations along our way, finally getting off at Tynemouth a little after 11:30 .

Forward planning had given us the opportunity to take an early lunch courtesy of a nearby Fish and Chip restaurant, once we had found it, it was named Longsands Fish Kitchen, we were not disappointed by this decision, all relishing our lunchtime meals. Almost an hour after we headed for the seafront with a couple of our group taking advantage to explore the ruins of the coastal castle and the harbour defence structures of bygone days, impressive to say the least. Other members of our group deciding to explore the array of nearby shops etc.

Castle visited our group reassembled and it was now time to venture a little further along this inspiring coastline, a slightly different aspect to weather had taken place now with a rather stiff breeze blowing in our faces and an overcast sky, some relief from this was found down on the beach which we traveled along for a half a mile or so before returning to the promenade walk way. A short recess was taken at this vantage point before we continued our journey passing bay after bay as we ambled  along in the direction of Whitley Bay a more notable resort in this location. A brief visit to a familiar building for some of the lads was now undertaken that of Spanish City before we moved on to Di Meos Italian Ice Cream Parlour and sample their delights here in Whitley Bay.

Leaving the ice cream parlour behind us we now went in search of the nearest Metro station, that was to be Monkseaton , about 15 minutes walk away. Once at the station it was only a few minutes before a suitable train arrived that would take us back to Newcastle Railway station , it was now a few minutes after 5:00 pm. Our scheduled train back to Leeds would be arriving at 17:40. 

The journey back to Leeds yet again causing the lads a seating problem with their reserved seats in carriage C scattered around the compartment, eventually a few of them managed to get located side by side for some of the journey. Arriving back in Leeds at 19:05, from here the Lads dispersing in to their own methods of home bound journeys etc, not before saying goodbye to each other.

Upon Reflection today’s adventure was full of surprises, intrigue and fascinating aspect's about this particular location here in the North East.

Cheers Everyone 

Mansion Meeting

 Thursday 15th August 2024.         Meeting at the Mansion 

As the title suggests today’s outing for the Lads was to meet up with an old work colleague at the Mansion, an establishment situated in the grounds of Roundhay Park, Leeds. A time of midday was arranged for this gathering and it would be John, Keith, Malcolm, Brian, Derek, Dave, Mark and Russ that would greet Tim Kearney, Colin and Glenn have prior arrangements. 

The Lads eventually found a suitable place to sit after rearranging the table and chairs to suit this large group. Drinks and items of food were now ordered and the various conversations were taking place with lots of reminiscing of days gone bye being the main topic, different names of workforce characters kept cropping up and the various antics that they got up to etc.

A couple of hours seemed to just flyby enjoying this gathering in a quite adequate setting here in the Mansion, the staff taking good care of us and responding to our needs. With arrangements for Tim’s wife to come and collect him , we all made our way to this designated spot and bid Tim farewell , from here we now dispersed to take our own respective journeys homeward by car , bus or train.

Upon reflection today’s meeting up was most pleasurable to see and enjoy, keep up the good work Lads.

Cheers Everyone.

Otley Outcome

 Wednesday 7th August 2024.            Otley Outcome 

Today’s outing would see six of the Lads explore a previous walk undertaken here in the market town of Otley It would be Colin, Malcolm , Glenn, Derek, Dave and Mark who would eventually meet up at the bus station just about midday due to some travel issues for a couple of the Lads. After the usual formal greetings they slowly weaved their way through the town centre and headed in the direction of the river, no sooner had they got into their stride when Mark spotted the wife of Ian Piercy, who had been a work colleague of the Lads, a quick hello to her has she took a photo of us all, quite a number of other residents of the town saying hello to Mark as we passed them bye.

As we reached the river a few points of interest were pointed out to us, ie, Tittybottle Park the 3 R’s printing press and the Hydroelectric turbine which used to supply power to the nearby mill etc. 

Our pathway now took us further along the riverbank until we reached a crossing point, now it was over the bridge to the other side and continue our journey passing numerous garden allotments on our way, eventually we came to the main road which would lead us back towards the town centre and our intended lunchtime meal stop, that was the Maypole Fish and Chip restaurant.

On this occasion the place was rather quiet with only 1 other table being occupied, we were soon found a suitable location to sit and with our meals ordered time now to discuss future plans etc. With our lunchtime break almost lasting an hour it was time to make a decision about how we would make the return journey to Leeds, obviously this decision would not effect everyone, Mark is a resident of Otley, whilst Malcolm lives in Horseforth. It would be the other 4 considering their options, take the X84 bus back as whence they came, or take a bus to Menston and from there catch a train heading for Leeds or a third suggestion take the X84 heading for Ilkley and catch a train there, this was the option that they took. 

So with the time now approaching 14:30 it was farewell to Mark and Malcolm as the rest of us headed for Ilkley, a journey of about 30 minutes, on arriving in Ilkley we just had only a few minutes of waiting time before the 15:10 train departed the station heading for Leeds, this journey also taking about half an hour. From Leeds we then took our respective journeys home also fraught with options, especially for Glenn and Dave.

Today’s adventure was a journey of options, do we walk 3 miles or so or go a little further, do we have a large fish or small, or do we take this bus or that bus, all in all I think we enjoyed our final choices, plus the weather was kind to us as well. 

Cheers Everyone.

Remarkable Ripon

 Wednesday 31st July 2024.                  Remarkable Ripon

For today’s adventure the lads have planned to explore a region of Ripon known locally as Wet Lands, it’s an area close to the racecourse on the outskirts of the City. Their means of getting there will include a train journey from Leeds to Harrogate , followed by a bus ride from Harrogate to the bus station in Ripon, arriving in city at about 11:15.

From the bus station the lads went in search of a cafe located on Micklegate, only to find out this establishment didn’t fully open until midday. With the uncertainty of how long our intended journey to the Wet Lands and back would take we abandoned our early all day breakfast plans.

From Micklegate the lads now made their way to an entry point of the river Skell just a few hundred yards away over Stone Bridge. From this point they would follow this river to the point where it joined the larger river Ure, then follow its course heading east until they reached the next river bridge, this part of their journey took them through a wooded area then on into large open cornfields with the main road running along side them.

Finally finding a suitable exit point the lads now left  the riverbank and carefully crossed this rather busy road in order to reach the entrance to the Wet Lands and the ideally placed Refreshments Van parked on a small car park. Close bye was the ideal place to enjoy a sandwich and drink purchased from the said Van, under the shade of a large oak tree which gave us much relief from the rather warm sunshine that we were blessed with today. We spent a good half hour relaxing in this particular spot before considering our next steps.

Our intended return bus back to Harrogate leaves Ripon about 2:35 pm , the time now was around 1:00 pm. To reach our goal of the Wet Lands was considered a little bit too ambitious, so a short route was sought.

 

This new shorter route took the lads around the front of the racecourse stand and over a large grass area before they eventually reached the canal towpath, from here it would be a leisurely walk back towards the city centre and maybe time for the enjoyment of an Ice Cream, not so turned out to be the answer. With the bus station now within sight we made or way towards it, on arrival we were now faced with an ever increasing number of passengers waiting for the No36 bus, the previous bus had been cancelled, it would be almost 70 passengers that climbed aboard hoping to get a seat, eventually with a slight delay the driver switched on the engine and off we began slowly heading for Harrogate.

It was a rather hot and stuffy climate on the top deck of this bus causing some of the lads to fall asleep as we trundled along, some slight altercation with a couple of passengers at the bus stop in Ripley leading to further delays in our journey. The bus did eventually arrive at stand 8 in Harrogate about quarter past three giving John, Brian, Malcolm, Colin, Glenn, Derek and Dave enough time to say farewell to Mark (alias Bruce) as he was not taking the train back to Leeds. Now the seven of us made our way to platform 3 in order to catch the 15:35 heading for Leeds, Wakefield and beyond.

Upon reflection with almost 5 miles in distance walked things didn’t always go to plan, our original suggested route would have involved walking along side that very busy road for nearly a mile or so , that was why we decided upon the different route taking in the rivers Skell and Ure, a much pleasant experience even though possibly slightly further, this decision obviously taking up extra time.which would have been necessary to achieve our intended target of the far reaches of the Wet Lands etc. Nevertheless we thoroughly appreciated the change in plans and enjoyed our adventure.

Cheers Everyone.